The purpose of this guidance is to further help reduce the risk of foodborne illness due to E. coli O157 in raw beef by providing information on intervention strategies to minimize the prevalence of this bacterium in raw beef, specifically precursor material, finished raw ground beef products and beef products processed for raw consumption, produced domestically and offered for sale in Canada.

This guidance document takes into account the fact that food safety is a shared responsibilities between industry, consumers and government agencies.